Putting lipstick on a pig: An experiment in making Welch's grape juice wine

[dr_al]

springmom, i have been trying to find some of that to use as well i have another batch that i started with walmart juice white grape/peach and its pretty good sofar. each time we do a gallon of welches red we start a gallon of white grape peach, soon we will just have to switch to 5 gallon batches i think.

 

[ejr]

nope i made pear wine which i got to sweet then to fix it i made some grape welches really dry and mixed it didnt turn out well so i backsweetened with the tropical punch sweeet koolaide mix to taste made it drinkable in other words i used it to cover up 2 mistakes not for just the welches and i didnt follow that recipe i was just making a fix for my own mess up sorry if i wasnt clear

 

[bellmtbbq]

Today I bought a can of generic 100% concord concentrate for a 1/2 gallon batch. I added a 1/3 cup of sugar, mashed up five blackberries, a drop of raspberry extract I had around, and a couple drops of real imitation vanilla extract. I wanted to go conservative, taste, and maybe add some more. I might get out some oak chips for my smoker and toast a half ounce. My goal is to make as nuanced of a wine as possible, and if it doesn't work, Im only out three dollars.

I'm naming it Ghettodel. (Zinfandel) will post my results and photos!

 

[jagec]

real imitation vanilla extract.

Isn't that an oxymoron?

 

[bellmtbbq]

Isn't that an oxymoron?

Well it's not fake imitation vanilla extract.

 

[jagec]

Update: I tried the wine today. First I mixed a splash of each in a glass and tasted it. The nose is actually better than I was expecting, but the body was still pretty thin and the taste was excessively tart. Oak is not making much of an appearance yet, so I think I'll give it a few more weeks at least.

After the taste, I added a few drops of glycerine and some wine conditioner to see if things improved. They did, markedly. The tartness was no longer evident, and while I probably overdid it on conditioner, the wine had become much more balanced. It was a far cry from the big, bold cabs that I tend to like, but it actually tasted remarkably like some of the inoffensive commercial reds that I've encountered. And it certainly tasted much "fuller" than the standard recipe.

I'll update again in a few weeks when the oak has made more of an appearance.

 

[springmom]

Well, let's face it. We aren't doing this to keep the vintners at Stag's Leap up all night worrying. We want pleasant drinkable wine, and the idea of using this for sangria is perfect. I went ahead and got the white grape-peach going and it's sitting in secondary. Amazingly yummy smelling, but I'll wait until its racked again to taste it. It is never going to taste like Kendall-Jackson's Grand Reserve Chardonnay, but if I want that I'll go to the store and buy some. It's still going to be good, I think.

 

[bellmtbbq]

updates anyone? My batch got spilled by a family member so I'm going to start it back up this week.

 

[jagec]

updates anyone? My batch got spilled by a family member so I'm going to start it back up this week.

I had another taste of mine, but I still think I want to give it more time to get oaky. It is certainly getting *better*, but it still has a long way to go.

 

[dr_al]

mine are still sitting under air lock no noticeable lee's to rack off of so i'll just let them continue to bulk age for a few more months.